Heartstrings
by E.V.A.Graebel
Summary: Sequel to Bloodbourne. The places our hearts take us are rarely where we thought we'd go. Please Read and Review. COMPLETED AND FINISHED.
1. Prologue

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**Heartstrings** is the third chapter in my Blade trilogy.

I don't own any of the characters except for Meg and a few others. Blade, the Nightstalkers, etc. etc. do not belong to me.

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**Prologue**

"Get back! Abby, it's a trap!"

But she wasn't listening. She swung the light arc as though it weighed nothing. Slashing through vampires with each stroke. A tight spin and she carved ash and fire through three more.

Somewhere ahead of them was the room that held Meg. It had taken her two hours to reach here. Her clothes were covered in ash, there was no escaping it as she slogged her way through vampires. Her own blood oozed in places where the vampires had found a way through her guard to score her skin. She didn't feel it, she didn't feel any of it.

Her mind was focused on one thing. Kill Meg.

Abby wouldn't have admitted to anyone why this was suddenly the most imperative thing in her world. She could barely admit it to herself. She'd seen Hannibal through the glass windows of his room, unconscious and barely alive. She saw the scars that he would bear for the rest of his life as the doctor whispered platitudes and sympathy to her. He wasn't allowed to die and leave her alone, and yet he'd come so close.

It was Meg's fault. Everything was her fault. The woman had been a disruption from the minute Abby first saw her and realized that she was the same woman her father had wanted dead. It was a short step before his death too, became something she could attribute to Meg. The circumstances never mattered, Meg had always kept some of the vampire inside of her, and that was unforgivable.

She took the brunt of a blow across one forearm and ducked a whistling blow aimed at her forehead. The light arc folded tight against her back and she pulled two long silver-tainted blades.

"ABBY!" Blade shouted again but she ignored him.

He was almost thirty yards behind her. Even his vaunted fighting skills couldn't keep him up with the sudden sheer determination that drove her.

Her foot snaked out and she heel swept a vamp. The woman fell and Abby followed her down with a blade in hand. Her focus dropped.

The blow knocked her off her feet and sent her sprawling through the ash of her last vampire.

She tried to roll away and moved straight into a large booted foot. It knocked the air out of her lungs and broke a few ribs. Abby hurt too much to care how many.

One blade was lost and the other trapped underneath her. Abby went for the pistol in the holster. A very large knife drove through the flesh of her hand, pinning it to her thigh.

"Blade!" She cried out.

"Blade's busy, darling." Came the husky voice.

She fought to pull the blade out and almost screamed with the pain of it. The vamp above her was big. He grinned again and twisted the hilt to make her whimper.

"Where is she?" Abby quit trying to get her pistol and reached for the small vial. All it needed was to be released into the atmosphere. "Where's Meg?"

"See, my girl." He said to her as he examined her carefully. "The boss has declared you and Blade persona non grata."

A bellow of rage comes from behind them and Abby smiled. Blade. He was coming.

The vampire shrugged sadly and turned back to her. "Here I thought we'd get some time together."

Abby crushed the vial against her, not even noticing the new streams of blood from the glass. She's done what she came to do.

He turned a large bore pistol on her and her eyes widened in horror as he said. "She's not even here."

The gunshot ended everything.


	2. Chapter 1

This isn't the New York of Broadway and flashing lights. No Times Square or Rockettes dancing in a row. This street is dirty, grungy and all too connected to the subway that brings the trash in and takes it back out again.

It's also the exact place that Hannibal King had decided to get a cup of coffee. He seems so much older these days. The long scars on his neck and cheek are pale slashes that would be hidden by his beard except that the hair around them is also scarred with trails of white.

"Coffee?" The waitress asks and he nods as he slides into a seat.

"Strongest you've got."

"Honey, any stronger and we could cauterize ulcers."

"That should do it."

He accepts the coffee cup and drinks it like it'll be his last.

"Got another cup of that?"

"Sure." Hannibal gestures to the waitress and turns perfunctorily towards Blade. He's not the only one who looks older. Two years have marked them like twenty. "I didn't expect you back so soon."

"A lot less vamps than I thought."

The waitress handed over the second cup with more than a little trepidation until Hannibal slid her a hefty tip. Blade had that impression on people these days. His tattoos were even more extensive and starting to take on a very dark look with the black threaded with crimson lines. Although his weapons were invisible under his coat, he still moved with the carriage of a hunter.

Hannibal took another drag and agreed silently with the waitress. The coffee was caustic enough to warrant a warning label.

"It's getting that way in a lot of places. Less vamps. Less problems. I've never seen anything like it."

Blade makes a sound halfway between a growl and a sigh as he tastes his own cup. "Better than your brew."

"Another thing I never managed to master." There is a slight hint of the old joviality but most of it is gone, subdued beneath the events of the last two years. "What's the news on them?"

"There is none."

"No leads?"

"None."

Both men consider this for a moment.

"So all the vamps in the world don't know a thing? No leads. No information. They bring back the world's oldest vampire and he just vanishes?"

Blade shrugs slightly. "He's got to be somewhere."

Hannibal gives a sharp laugh. "Maybe we're wrong. It's been two years, Blade. Maybe she's dead. Maybe they both are."

"No." Blade's eyes never waver from their fixed point on the wall across from him. No twitch of emotion or response, he's moved beyond all of that. "I'd know."

Hannibal slides the empty coffee cup away from him. His voice deepens slightly as he speaks. "I thought I'd know when Abby died. But I didn't. Didn't even imagine that was why Calder had come to the hospital. Shit, I should have known. But I didn't." He pauses suddenly, caught in the memory. "Blade, could you be wrong? It's been a long time."

"She's alive."

"Then we'll find them. And figure out what they've done with all the vampires. At this point we'll have ashed them all by spring."

Blade seems deep in thought. He doesn't move even though Hannibal has gotten up and is ready to leave.

"What are you thinking?" Hannibal finally asks.

"Two years and no uber-vampires. Nothing but the suckheads we've always seen. And now, they're disappearing. Where are they going? What is Drake doing with them?"

Hannibal doesn't know either. He shrugs helplessly. "Come with me. I've got something to show you."

Blade nods and stands. His half drunk coffee is left behind, the brew so dark that it has left stains all along the rim. It reflects the light in concentric ripples as the two men step back out into the New York night.

* * *

This is a new type of Nightstalkers headquarters. It looks like it has actually been used for legitimate purposes within the last ten years, a step up from they've had recently. Johnny and Calder look up from a piece of welding as Hannibal and Blade enter. Both men raise a hand in welcome but Blade is immediately focused on what Hannibal has found. 

A Dodge Charger.

Blade almost smiles.

"Where'd you find it?"

"Its former driver felt a sudden urge to go out in the sunlight." Hannibal shrugs. "It'll need a bit of work." He tosses the keys to Blade with a grin. "You can argue with Johnny about it."

"Nice."

"Well, I'll let the two of you get acquainted." Hannibal leaves Blade to his vehicular contemplation with a smile. It's not often that either of them find something that makes them happy. Not often at all.

* * *

Hannibal is running. The vamp in front of him skids around a corner and he hits the same patch of oil and almost goes down. He puts on a sudden burst of energy and tries to catch hold of the vamp's jacket. This time its enough and his fingers clutch the material and he drags them both to a halt. 

One punch to the vamp to stun him and Hannibal shoves a sizable stake through one thigh. The vamp screams and tries to get away as he starts smoking.

Between deep breaths Hannibal pushes it further in. "Yeah, how's that? Making me run at my age."

"Fucker!" The vamp screams. "Oh, fuck, that burns!"

"So answer my questions and," he needs another deep breath. "I'll take it out."

"Fuck you!"

"I haven't started yet." He smacks the stake and the vamp screams. "Okay I'm ready. What do you know about Drake? Where is he?"

"Drake?" The vamp squealed. "Him? Nothing."

"Cut me some slack. I know you know where he is or have heard about it. He's well guarded. What does it matter if you point me in the right direction?"

"I can't." Another scream as the stake goes deeper. "I can't!"

"That's one of those words that's not really in my vocabulary." Hannibal reaches around and grabs another stake. He doesn't really want to have to use both of them, even though the silver content is low, more than one has a tendency to ash vamps.

"I don't know. Someplace warm!"

"Someplace warm. Could you be a little more specific?"

"I don't know anything more specific!"

Hannibal shrugs, he's used to getting nothing out of these little chats. With his free hand he pulls his electronic pistol and fires a UV dart into the vampire. The vamp screams as the light bursts free inside of his chest and ashes him from the inside out.

Hannibal brushes off the knees of his jeans as he stands. He glances back. Blade is fighting with the last of the vamps, a wannabe sword fighter who lasts as long as it takes Hannibal to resheathe the stakes. Not very long at all. Blade sweeps through the vampire's abdomen with one straight move. Ash and flames spark briefly from the vampire as it dies.

"Anything?" Blade asks.

"Nothing worth knowing. Someplace warm was all he knew."

"Well at least he wasn't vague."

Hannibal sneaks a look at Blade trying to see if he was making a joke. Even looking he can't quite tell.

Blade sneers. "I didn't even break a sweat."

"Well next time you can chase the asshole down the alley."

"That's what you're here for." Blade has fun goading Hannibal. The two men most unlikely to ever work together, and here they are thrown together by the absence of the women they loved. Stranger matches have been made, but not very many on the amount of blood that was spilled between them. Although Abby is dead and Meg long since kidnapped, the ghosts of the women still hover next to them and they both can sense it and it binds them together.

"It's a lead." Hannibal offers.

"Tell the others to start looking."

Hannibal nods and wipes his forehead. The sweat isn't really as bad as he thought it would be. It wasn't a very long alley. "We'll find her."

Blade nods. "We will." It's a promise.


	3. Chapter 2

Thanks again, Zelinia. You were absolutely right. Griping? What was I thinking? Too much Trinity-style Blade slipping over. Thanks also, to everyone else who has reviewed. :)

In a sidenote, Spike TV is coming out with Blade: The Series this summer. Yay!

* * *

The room is still cool despite these humid nights. Meg shivers and rubs one hand up her arm as she steps to the window and looks out over the soft green grasses under the moonlight. This is not the life she expected, nothing is really what she expected.

She stands there watching the wind and the slowly cresting moon and knows with utter certainty that Blade is still looking for her. Although muted, the connection is still there.

"What are you thinking?" Drake's voice is low and soft but she still spins.

"That's he still out there." She gestures softly and turns back to the window.

He stands behind her and then she feels the cold slide of pearls as he drops it around her shoulders. She doesn't have to look down, these are the black pearls that he left out for her, and that she neglected to put on.

"You're sad tonight."

"I just wish he could understand what we're doing."

"We're improving the race." He nips at her neck playfully as he slides the clasp of the necklace into place. "Something that was long overdue." He straightens and slides his arms around her.

They stand there motionless for a long time. Meg wearing a simple strapless black dress with pearls circling her unmarked neck. She is still human, even though the man embracing her is the original vampire. He has left her human, something that Blade could never have predicted. He doesn't plan to leave her human forever, something that Meg knows in her deepest of fears although she won't admit it. For now, they have found this balance.

"You worry too much." He says softly. "A quality that hasn't changed in your species at all."

"Are the guests ready?"

He knows she is changing the subject. "Yes."

"Then we shouldn't keep them waiting."

He stops her before she can pull away. As Meg closes her eyes and leans into the kiss her heart shudders with emotion yet again. Drake can feel it and draws her closer. Their heartbeats rise up and match each other yet again. The emotions so strong that they sway within the grasp of them. There was never any chance of fighting this.

"You are…" He starts, brushing her hair away from her amber eyes. "The reason I fought for life."

Her eyes drop away from this admission.

"Don't." He raises her chin up so that she must look at him. "There will be an ending to this. I promise you. And then it will be time to move on."

"I know. I trust you."

"Are you ready?" She nods as he runs his hands down the curves of her body and discovers the slender weapon hidden under the folds of her skirt. One eyebrow lifts slightly and Drake gives her a knowing smile.

"The old weapons are always the best."

* * *

Blade frowns as he and Hannibal step out of the Charger and into the glitter and flitter that is a Miami night. A long line of scantily clad women are waiting to get into the same vampire club that these two are aiming for. Blade in his solid black duster is definitely not dressed for this crowd. Hannibal doesn't quite fit in, but several eyes are drawn to his rugged appearance, enhanced of course by his scars. 

"Do you want to wait in line?" Hannibal says, leaning across the roof of the car.

Blade sees his elbows and gives him that flat stare until Hannibal takes his elbows off the new paint job. "We don't have time for this." He reaches back inside and pulls out a small black bag. Two grenades fall easily into his hands. "Tear gas for the girls." He tosses that to Hannibal. "And silver for the door guards."

"I always get the mean job." Hannibal muses to himself as he pulls a small rebreather over his face and tosses the grenade towards the line. It explodes with a small pop and the girls start screaming.

Blade's grenade hits the first bouncer in the chest and lands at his feet. Silver spews out before the three can reach and eats its way inside their skin with tiny flashes of fire and ash. They ash in chunks, very slowly, from the outside.

Thirty seconds later the club entrance is empty of human or vampire life. Blade grabs a couple more grenades and drops them in a coat pocket as Hannibal cocks his shotgun.

The open the door slowly and grimace as neon lights and some kind of pop-electronica blaze out. A bouncer spins in his post and goggles at the sight of these two.

"How did…?" The words are blown away with ash and the music cuts out as the DJ sees them and the remnants of the vamp that just challenged them.

The vampires in the club toss away the humans dancing and turn to regard this new threat. Hannibal and Blade both grin, there are more vampires here than they've seen in a long time.

"You wanna get Breen?"

Blade nods.

"Have fun."

The vampires attack. Blade charges for the stairs. Wicked silver blades in his hands flash through martial combinations that ash every opponent. He kicks a vamp coming up behind him and when the vamp tries to rise, Hannibal offers him the end of a shotgun blast. Blade glares at him for taking the kill and ashes two more in spectacular unison as they fly over the railing.

Most of these vamps are small time. Hannibal is taking his time, reloading on the fly, and enjoying himself thoroughly. He's busy with new shells with a sudden blow from the DJ stuns him and sends the shotgun careening away.

The DJ is wild with a shocking orange Mohawk and multiple Madonna-like bangles all over him. He's also a furious boxer and Hannibal staggers under the sudden onslaught of blows.

They back up, trading punches, stomping over a prone body on the floor.

Hannibal takes one to the ribs that resonates through his body armor. He stands and breaks through the DJ's guard, throttling the man. The vamp just grins and jumps off the floor, driving both knees into Hannibal's already sore ribs.

Hannibal releases the other man and staggers a few steps away.

"Fucking A." He groans, trying to erase these aches. He has been getting soft lately with so little to hunt.

The DJ comes in hard again. Hannibal blocks two blows and then the two men lock together like mismatched Thai warriors. They spin, and slam into one, then two different walls. Hannibal can't take too much damage like this, he is human, after all.

He draws one knee up and the DJ automatically blocks his groin as Hannibal kicks onto the vampire's knee with all of his weight. Bone and tendons pop and the vampire staggers away with a scream as Hannibal follows it with three powerful uppercuts. The DJ hits the floor with the last one.

Breathing hard, Hannibal looks down at him and grins. "That…was the most fun I've had in a long time."

"Fuck you!" The DJ shouts at him through broken front teeth.

A grin crosses Hannibal's face. "As long as it was good for you too." He puts a UV bullet between the DJ's eyes and steps over the ash as the vamp dies.

He surveys the empty dance floor and sighs at the bodies still on the floor. Humans. There is screaming from the balcony and a sudden flash of light.

"Blade?" Hannibal calls up.

Blade appears, a smudge of blood across one arm where a vamp got a hold of him. He smiles, a bitter flash of teeth. "I know where they are."

* * *

Meg is motionless at the table, surrounded by the last remaining scions of vampire power. They avoid looking at her as much as they can, this interloper, this woman who has spent time on both sides of the battle lines. She is avoiding looking at them as well, one hand idly playing with the silverware as Drake continues speaking at the head of the table. 

"I have brought you here for several reasons."

"Well, get to the point!" One of the aged vampires snaps. "You were a power once, but the world has moved on."

Drake's eyes narrow and flip between reptilian and human in the blink of an eye. He focuses on Meg who finally looks up to meet his gaze. He inclines his head to her, the grey of his hair a testament to his death and resurrection. For a moment her heart clutches in fear, not of her own mortality but his. No matter what happens tonight, she can feel that Blade is coming, but that is later. Right now, she has a job to finish.

She stands and examines the vampires around her.

"Human." A regal blond hisses under her breath, more epithet than anything else.

"So much more than that." Drake tells her.

Meg's voice is higher than she wishes as she speaks to all of those present. "We're changing the way things work. Your race has grown slothful and full of decadence. You do nothing but advance your own power base with little thought to the race as a whole. Drake will change this. Change what you have become."

"There have been many upheavals." The oldest of the vampires present, a man named Richland stands. "The loss of the Council, of Damaskeinos, many changes. I think any more decisions should be made _here_ - in the presence of the new Council."

"You think…." Drake's voice is full of warning.

"Yes. I think."

"Then you misunderstand the changes that Meg is speaking of. Our race has strayed from what I made it. Our only option is to begin again."

Richland snorts. "And you want us to follow your lead? With a human at your side?"

He chokes as Meg buries a steak knife in his jugular, the silver of the utensil eating into his flesh slowly. The vampires at the table are shouting and pushing away from the table as Meg whirls towards Drake, her amber eyes flashing as she wrenches the knife sideways and severs Richland's head. The piece of meat ashes before it hits the ground and she kicks the body back to ash as well.

"WHAT?" The blonde screams, her fangs fully extending in fear. "What is going on?"

Meg pulls her asp from beneath the hem of her dress as Drake watches in approval. Her palm is sticky with blood and she wipes it on the tablecloth to clean it. He reaches her and extends one hand to touch her leg. Barefoot on the table, Meg flicks the asp to extend it and steps away from him.

"We will begin again."

The vampires rush them.


	4. Chapter 3

Meg ducks a bowl that flies at her head. The blonde vampire has gotten over her initial panic and is now a serious problem. There are still enough vampires that Drake is dealing with them while Meg stalks this one. A problem compounded by the vampire's proclivity to throw things. This is more of a ducking contest than one of brute will.

The next bowl irritates Meg as it hits the floor and shatters into a thousand pieces. She snarls in anger and leaps back onto the table. Her feet slide on the linen tablecloth as she runs for the vampire. A few more utensils fly her way but Meg is moving too fast now. She leaps for the woman, her asp slicing out, but missing as they tangle together and roll.

The vampire scrabbles at Meg's neck, trying to get a purchase and the beautiful pearl necklace snaps. The women pause as the tiny black pearls scatter and bounce across the floor. Meg punches her as hard as she can.

"Bitch." She hisses. "Those were a gift."

Another fleeing Councilmember trips over them and knocks Meg off balance. She whirls with the asp and drives it through the vampire's eye. He screams as the ash flares inward and Meg jerks but cannot get the asp out of the man's skull. It falls as his body turns into dust and drags her arm down slightly.

She's not entirely ready as the blonde vampire grabs a knife off the floor and stabs Meg in the bicep. Pain flares up fresh and bright along the muscle of her arm and she reaches for the blade as the vampire pulls it out and drives it in again. The second strike hits Meg square in the shoulder and she shudders as the metal scrapes along the bone.

Meg reaches out with her uninjured arm and drives the vampire's head into the floor. As the two women grapple for control, they roll and each momentarily gains dominance while the other jockeys for position. Another turn and Meg is on the bottom. They strike at each other. Every blow that lands on Meg tires her.

The vampire is winning although Meg doesn't want to admit it.

The blonde traps Meg's arms against the floor and smiles wickedly, her teeth suddenly very sharp in the lights of the dining hall. She leans against Meg, pressing weight down on the blade still in her body.

"Pretty little human, so sweet, so full of life. Is that what tempted him? The life inside of you?"

"Not only that." Meg bucks trying to throw her off but can't.

"You think that killing the Council will let him rule the world unchallenged?" Her voice is full of scorn. "We are a race that prides ourselves on conflict. He will not ascend uncontested."

"You're missing the point." Meg says tightly. "That's not what we're doing."

"You're weak." The blonde licks the edge of Meg's wound and rolls her eyes in ecstasy. "But tasty."

The mouth opens wide to take the final bite when it opens wider into a scream of hatred. Meg closes her eyes tight as ash blows all around her in a wind flurry. Then she is pulled off the floor and the knife jerked out of her wound.

Drake cocks his head at her. "Meg?"

"I'm okay." She surveys the destruction of the room. "These were stronger than the rest."

"They were Council members." He acknowledges as he brushes her hair away from the injuries. "Goddammit, woman. You are not immortal. Not yet." His hands cover her wounds with sudden heat and Meg leans into his body. There is nothing more comforting than this. She smiles into the cloth of his shirt as the pain dims to a muted throb.

There are some things more powerful than death, like this.

* * *

"Where?" Caulder looks at Blade and Hannibal like they're crazy.

"Rio."

"Why would a vampire go there?"

"Well, maybe because Europe's out. Along with most of Asia, the Middle East and the U.S."

"Why are they out?" Comes a light voice. Danielle, their newest acquisition hasn't seen a lot of action and Hannibal would like to keep it that way. This girl isn't even half as tough as Abby was.

"Because we've already looked there." Blade's tone is flat. "Breen said that there was some kind of Council gathering two days ago. He called the new Council there and no one has heard anything since."

"So it's probably full of vampires. Lots and lots of vampires." Hannibal looks happy at the thought.

"We can deal with whatever is there."

Danielle grins and bounces up and down on her toes for a second. "Vampires! Finally!"

Blade gives her a single glance and the young woman's exuberance subsides. She settles back down as they all wait for Blade to speak.

"Your job is the vamps and any familiars you find. Drake is mine."

"And Meg?" Caulder has long since been the only one with any concerns about the fate of the errant woman. "What about her?"

"I'll handle Meg." All eyes turn in surprise towards Hannibal and Caulder nods. He trusts Hannibal and since this is the first they've heard from him, everyone assumes that he will be lenient. He turns towards Blade. "Unless you have a problem with it?"

"I want to talk to her." Blade tells him. "When everything is finished."

"I'm sure we can handle that."

Caulder grins as the last box is loaded onto the small charter plane behind them. "Let's finish this. I've not been home to Ireland in six years and it's about time we had a vacation."

The humans are full of themselves as they load up, but Blade waits until the last minute. Miami played out the way he hoped it would, but he hasn't told the others all of what Breen told him.

The vampires thought that something was wrong in Rio. Vampires who went down there didn't come back and there were rumors of death squads seeking out vampires with more determination than even Blade and the Nightstalkers. Breen had been frightened of attracting anyone's attention because vampires had become a rare commodity all over the world. He hadn't been able to tell Blade why, or what Drake and Meg were planning. That worried him. They didn't know what they were walking into, not at all.

* * *

Meg awoke with the certain realization that Blade was on his way. She rolled onto her side and let her eyes rest on the sleeping vampire next to her. He was bare-chested on the wide open bed that faced the ocean, one hand still entangled with her own. This was their attempt at paradise for as long as they could have it.

His chest was marked with the veined birthmark he'd been born with. Now, dark from Daystar's influence on him, each one stood out from his skin. When he returned to his normal form they were indistinguishable against the scales but he didn't like to be that way around her. Although they each were unique, they strove for some normalcy, as much as the original progenitor of vampires could have with a hybrid offshoot of a Daywalker. For all of their differences they were still very much in love.

Her bandages pulled slightly and she adjusted her position as she felt him wake.

"What's wrong?" He immediately turned and drew her toward him. His eyes searched hers for a cause. "Meg?"

"He's coming." She whispered softy. "No more than a few hours away."

"How few?"

"Six…maybe eight."

Her lips brushed hers in a kiss and then he drew her in tighter against his chest. "Don't worry."

"I worry." She answered. "I…I…."

"Blade won't hurt you." Drake tells her. "He won't."

"Of course." She tries to hide the concern.

"I have lived for four thousand years. No one will take you from me." His voice deepens with emotion. "Not while life beats in my veins."

She shivers in his arms and he draws her tight against him. Blade is coming and she now understands how vampires feel at the thought of his wrath. Despite the warmth of the morning, she is suddenly very cold.


	5. Chapter 4

"Meg?"

"I'm here."

Drake enters the room, his eyes flashing to ovals as he searches the darkness for Meg's form. She is standing on the balcony again, the place he always finds her, looking out at the ocean and the moon above them. She is dressed in dark pants and an off-the-shoulder blouse that shows her bruised and sutured wound from the Council meeting."Where is he?"

"Close."

"Then let me have one last moment with you undisturbed."

She doesn't resist as he pulls her away from the window.

Neither of them notice the pair of amber eyes watching from across the compound. Blade pulls back into the shadows as well as Hannibal and Danielle crawl across the grass toward him.

"Anything?" Hannibal whispers.

"No guards. No vampires. Just the two of them."

"It's got to be a trap." Danielle pushes forth.

"Some kind of trap." Hannibal agrees but Blade remains silent. He doesn't sense anything about a trap from this place and that worries him more than anything else. Just as he can feel Meg now that they're closer and feel the intensity of her emotions. His heart twists in his chest because she'd once offered that to him – the pure intensity of love.

"Blade?" Hannibal said his name for the third time. "What do you want us to do?"

"We move." But there is a tiny bit of hesitation that he doesn't let the others see. "Stay away from Drake. I'll take care of him."

"Why would she go with him?" Danielle muses softly. "I mean he's cute and all, but he's a vampire."

Neither man answers as they look up at the window above them. Sometimes there are no answers.

With that last moment of peace, they head towards the last battle.

* * *

The mansion seems to be empty. Blade keeps waiting for an attack that doesn't come. He is alone in the hallway he's searching. The others are searching their particular quadrants but so far no one has found anything.

A sense of discord grows but he can't pin what is wrong with this place, what has really been going on here.

Then, ahead, he's sees light shining from underneath a door. And with absolute certainty Blade knows that Drake is on the other side. He uses the tip of his sword to push open the door. It's a dining hall, although the table is bare and all the chairs are gone except for one. It is in the last chair that Drake is waiting for him without armor although his sword is laid across the tabletop in preparation.

"You've come." It's said with no surprise.

"It's time to end this."

"Did Meg find you?" There is concern in Drake's voice now.

The question wasn't what Blade was expecting. "No."

"Who else did you bring?"

Blade gives a small snort. "She's not in danger, yet."

* * *

_Meg turns at the last corridor and sees a man move into the shadows. Not that he was fast enough to hide from her eyes. She can tell Hannibal from Blade even if they weren't this sharp, the two men look nothing alike._

_"Hannibal?" She calls out._

_"Meg." There is no welcome in his voice, she hadn't really expected any._

_Her eyes wrinkle in concern as she sees the scars on his cheek and throat and the white hairs that grow around them._

_"You bring new meaning to the phrase 'sleeping with the enemy'."_

_"You can parade me around as a pariah all you want." She answers as they move closer together. "Or you can talk to me. How many vampires have you seen lately? Or are they getting a little hard to find?"_

_"Easy enough." He lies and gets close enough to see her wounds. "So he likes to knock you around?"_

_"A gift." She answers. "From one of the Council."_

_"And where are they?"_

_Meg opens her mouth in a small smile as she prepares to answer._

_

* * *

_

"Meg won't be able to stop me from killing you."

"You had help last time and didn't finish the job properly." They're sparring with words as they ready themselves for the final battle.

"It won't matter."

Drake shrugs as he finally stands and lays one hand on the sword. "My house is empty but for Meg and I. Nothing will stand between us if we decide to settle this with blades."

A grin. "The best way."

But Drake stops himself. This isn't how Meg planned it and he wants to stick with the plan. "Are you in a hurry?"

"A hurry, motherfucker? You gonna offer me a beer while we wait?" Blade is abrupt, a little off-balance. He's used to fighting, not delaying, and it is starting to feel like Drake is delaying.

"No. No beer." Drake's mouth deepens in a frown. "She wanted to tell you but I will. There are no more of the old vampires, no more true-bloods at all. What are left of the vampire race are only the turned humans and their numbers are decreasing even as we speak."

"And why would you do that?"

"To strengthen the race." Drake pushes his chair back in carefully. "Danica Talos made me aware of how astray the vampires had drifted. I saw hope in Meg…and in you."

"Old news."

"Perhaps," the two men slowly adjust their positions as Drake continues speaking. "But Meg had a solution. An answer that worked through its simplicity."

"An answer? To what?"

"How to create a world without vampires."

* * *

_"I have to find Blade." Meg says urgently. "Please. You both need to hear me out."_

_"Why?" Hannibal has his pistol aimed directly at her._

_"I don't deserve your trust." She is looking at the pistol. "But I never betrayed you, not even here."_

_"Get ahead of me." He gestures her to the front._

_"Is Abby here?"_

_Hannibal's face twists with grief. He thought Meg ordered the attack herself. Then he steels himself, trying to tell himself that she's just like them, trained in the art of lying._

_"She's dead." He says. "But you knew that."_

_The shock and horror on her face dissolve his hopes that she knew. Her amber eyes fill with real sorrow and he has to fight to keep his weapon up. She is the enemy, no matter what._

_"When?"_

_"It doesn't matter. She's dead."_

_"Then where is Blade?" Meg demands quietly. "I need to see him."_

_"Busy." She moves to step away from him and Hannibal grabs her injured shoulder to stop her. She hisses in pain but halts._

_"Hannibal. Let me talk to you and Blade. So that you understand."_

_"There's nothing to understand."_

_"But I've done it." She tells him with tight lips. "I've defeated them all."_

_This isn't what he expected to hear and it throws him a little further off balance. He wants to believe her. He'd liked her despite Abby's distrust, maybe a little more because he'd been a vampire once too. And now, there is honesty in her words that he can't deny any longer._

_"We'll find Blade." He agrees. "And then we'll see what happens."_

_

* * *

_

"A world without vampires?" Blade echoes.

Both men whirl as another entrance to the hall opens and Meg and Hannibal step through. There is no doubt that she has been injured as red droplets weep from the stitches on her shoulder and Drake's eyes narrow sharply.

"We're all here now." Hannibal snaps. "So say what you need to say."

Meg raises her hand gently toward Drake, attending to his concern first of all. "I'm fine."

"Meg." There is a questing concern in his voice.

"It's okay," she smiles softly and all three men relax. "I'm fine."

She takes another step away from Hannibal and turns to face Blade. The explosive sound of gunfire rings out and like lightning, three bullets slam into her abdomen.

"I've got her!" Danielle's shout echoes through the room. "She's down!"


	6. Chapter 5

The young woman never saw the sword that separated her head from the rest of her body. Drake's roar of outrage is mixed in with Hannibal's gasp and Blade's flat expletive but all three are in shock.

Meg looks down at her chest and the pulsing trails of blood that are staining her hands and clothing red. She opens her mouth trying to say something and sinks to her knees. With a tiny breath she tries to catch herself as she falls forward but cannot. Her body collapses to the marble and her hair spills out like a black river of darkness around her.

"NOO!" Drake's shout happens a second before he slams his sword down onto Blade's guard.

They crash together, the blades flying so fast that the sparks from one strike are still falling as the next set are struck into being. Drake is attacking with all of his strength and Blade slowly bends beneath the onslaught.

The two men trade blows back and forth. Blade is defending more than anything, he didn't expect this and can barely keep from getting hacked as he dives beneath one blow and rolls back to his feet. Then its another flurry of blows that have him backing away from Drake.

Across the room Hannibal dives toward Meg and spins her up into his lap. He can hear the battle but that isn't his concern. Danielle's surprise attack has changed everything and made him remember the woman who tried to save him even as his own blood spilled out of him.

The bullet wounds are bad. Two are tight around her left lung and her breathing is wet and labored. She is conscious and whimpers as he puts pressure down on the wounds.

"Don't."

"What have you done?" He asks her. "Why this? Why him?"

Her eyes fill with tears. "We had a war to fight."

"What?"

It takes her a few seconds to answer as her eyes roll toward Blade and Drake and their vicious battle. She is fading in his arms even as she gathers the words to say. "When strength cannot prevail you use other ways."

"Strength?"

"They are all dead." She whispers. "All the pure-bloods. We lured them here and executed them. Every day…" A wracking cough steals her breath and Hannibal is helpless to stop it. "Every day…more of them die. Drake did this. He helped me."

"You?"

"Yes." Her eyes roll back toward Drake and Blade and she reaches out to gain purchase on Hannibal's arm. "Help me up."

"No."

"Please, Hannibal."

Hannibal lifts her back to her feet as Drake lands a powerful blow to Blade, driving him into the table. The strength of it knocks his sword out of his hand and the Daywalker is completely exposed. Drake pauses and readies his sword.

"Drake…" Meg forces herself to walk free of Hannibal's support and staggers toward the two men. "Don't…"

This time, he catches her when she falls.

She looks smaller than she ever has as Drake cradles her in his arms. Blade retrieves his sword but does not attack. He watches as Drake tries to hold the life inside of her, tries to stop the bleeding, but the bullets have already done too much damage.

"…not enough time." Drake's words barely travel through the night air. "I have not had enough time."

And her attempted whisper that ends in coughing as the blood continues to choke off her air.

"Bite her." Blade says, aware of what this decision will cost him.

"Blade?" Hannibal asks.

"Bite her." There is no hesitation in the command.

Drake looks up in gratitude but then a darker awareness sweeps over him and he bows his head toward Meg. "It must be your choice."

She looks up at him and the answer is clear. But Drake's sound is of agony. He groans as though the right choice strikes him through the heart as being entirely wrong. He lowers his head toward her and Hannibal tenses as he waits for the vampire to bite her. But instead, Drake kisses her deeply.

Meg dies between that breath and the next.

* * *

There is only silence for a long time.

Then Drake finally speaks. "We've purified as much as we could. The rest is up to you. Right now, there are only two pure-bloods in the world. You….and I."

Blade nods. "All the vampires were disappearing because you were getting rid of them."

Drake nods. His hand streaked red with her blood as he closes her eyes and draws her up to his chest.

"After tonight there will only be one."

It takes a moment for Blade to understand.

"Are you sure?"

"I told her once that she was the reason I clung to life. Now…?" Drake looks up at Blade and touches himself on the chest with one finger. "One strike here and it will be ended."

"You loved her?" This is the last thing he needs to know.

"Yes."

Blade spins with his katana and drives it down with all of his strength. It pierces through Drake's back, through Meg's chest and down into the marble floor which crumples under the blow.

He and Hannibal watch as black blood pours out of Drake. The original vampire lowers his head to rest against hers, and dies.

"What have we done?" Hannibal asks quietly.

Blade is silent, his eyes and face stony with the attempt to restrain his emotions.

"There aren't any more monsters."

"There will always be monsters." Blade says. "Just one less woman to fight them."

"Do we leave them here?"

Blade's eyes turn back toward the motionless tableau. "She'd want it. She loved him."

* * *

Long after they'd left the mansion the sun began to rise outside. The light crawled across the dining hall floor with infinitesimal slowness toward the cooling bodies. Then, as it brushed across them, the tiny firelight sparks of flame burst into being as Drake, and Meg in his arms, turn to fire and then ash.

And it ends.


End file.
